~ Exploring Film, Theme Parks, and Television

Tag Archives: Psycho

Beyond name or image recognition, there is more that Hitchcock did to build his brand. While the knowledge for motion picture producers and directors to use logos, color pallet, typography, iconography, design, and imagery strategically was not new with Hitchcock, he was the first director in Hollywood to combine the power of all those elements and the others that have been mentioned in this essay. Separately, each of the aforementioned elements can be influential tools; but combined, they are extremely powerful for developing a brand.

Alfred Hitchcock: the Art of Making Movies was an opening day attraction at Universal Studios Florida, and stood as tribute to the Master of Suspense and father of the modern horror film from 1990 to 2003. As I love exploring the past, present, and future of the parks, I thought it would be fun to hop in the wayback machine to analyze just why this attraction was popular then, and why there’s been a resurgence of interest and popularity.

Remarkably spellbinding! Searching takes the concept of “screen life” movies to impeccable levels. Chaganty seems to have taken a page right out of the Alfred Hitchcock playbook for suspenseful storytelling. This tension-filled voyeuristic crime drama is successfully created–not through viruses, the supernatural, dark web or illegal activities–but through the mundane things we do everyday.

The original blockbuster! With The Meg opening soon, the next article in my Sinister Summer series is a retrospective on Jaws (1975). We still need a bigger boat. Beginning with the iconic minimalistic score by John Williams, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is still keeping people out of the water more than forty years later. Even if you trust the statistics that you are more likely to be injured or die in a car accident than be attacked by a shark, Jaws still leaves you wondering what may lurk in the depths of the ocean